


Dalmatian

by Aohili



Series: Meet the Team [1]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Daddy Issues, Daddy Kink, F/M, Fem-classes, Multi, Original Character(s), Polyamory, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-01 01:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4001485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aohili/pseuds/Aohili
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This one was.. different. He couldn’t help himself but stare for the first few moments in respawn, her holding her flamethrower, shaking with nervousness, and somthing told him, he'd know her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Payload

**Author's Note:**

> My first full fan fiction! I'm not a writer by most standpoints :c, pardon for any grammar issues.

Something about her was… Interesting, the team was expecting a new pyro. After a bit of a mishap with their previous one, it seemed the team's heavy wasn't too happy about them trying to cut off her arm.

This one was.. different, clearly a woman, there was no hiding her gender under the suit. Wide hips and a large well… bump in her chest, it looked almost comical compared to her average waist.

He couldn't help himself but stare for the first few moments in respawn, only shaken out of his trance from a smack to the back by a large hand, he couldn't remember who it was, not that it mattered awful too much.

She disappeared with the red's heavy and medic, heading down the dusty road of upward to the gates.

He took a moment, lifting his toolbox over his shoulder, running down most of the track, taking his usual place, tossing down the sentry, continuing to build his well.. nest.

The round went rather well, he watched her every so often, she wasn't too skilled from his view, her occasionally missing a airblast, sending her back into respawn, or even once, he couldn't help but laugh as she backed off the cliff in a fight with a spy.

Once the round was officially over, and the group wasn't camping the blu's respawn for shits and giggles, the team cleaned up and made their way back to the base, Most of the team stayed on the premise, for a except few who lived near the town, he had a snagging suspicion that they didn't actually live, but couldn't stand some of the others all the time.

He couldn't say much better, considering he lived quite a few miles away, his trailer was his home, it just so happened he had bought the land next to the gravel wars.

Sitting on his old desk, sketching out whatever schematic he needed to finish, it took him a moment to realize that someone was behind him, not just behind him, but she literally had her hands on his shoulders, he tensed up, leaning his head back and looking up, seeing a familiar black mask, hidden underneath a woolen santa hat. It took a few moments for him to process that she was even there.

"…mmph?"

"…ah.. Hi, Pyro, Need something?"

it took a full minute of silence to realize that the pyromaniac wasn't planing respond. He let out a long sigh. leaning his head back. He picked up the chalk white pencil and starting to continue writing out any information he needed too. The short stacked pyro remained resting on him for the whole hour, him sighing gently as he placed both of his hands down on the desk, he couldn't back out as long as she was well.. there.

he could feel her head resting on his, her arms had since fallen to lay across his chest, he moved forward, and she dragged with him.. was she asleep?

He let out a quiet chuckle, him reaching back, twisting his fingers in her suit, slowly pulling her back, letting him stand and catching her at her waist.. she was definitely asleep, he was just happy she was small enough to carry.

It took a swing and he was holding the girl in his arms like a bride. Letting out a quiet grunt, he walked out of his beloved work space, going down the hall, eventually reaching a dorm he could remember that was the last pyro's, leaning down to slowly open the door, his surprise in a small gasp to find it completely empty, no dresser, no bed, no nothing.

He sighed, looking down at the girl, he could lay her on the ground and leave, but that wasn't the gentlemanly thing do to. There was no extra bed but the one in his workshop.. was it the best idea to leave a pyro in a place filled with paper, he sighed, he could take his chances.

It was another trek back down, him moving some papers off the bed, his amazement she wasn't awake yet, slouched over in the chair.. she wasn't dead.. right? Right.

He let out a grumble as he pulled the sheets back, the whole thing was rather.. dusty, he never used it, She let out a soft groan as he placed her on the bed, the pyro let out a long stretch, her legs stretching as she grunted under the mask, him letting out a chuckle as she curled up, letting out another muffled groan as he tugged the sheets back over her.

She was adorable in her own.. creepy way, he'd never take a liking to another teammate as quickly as he did her.

It took his usual hour-long drive back home, him opening up the door to his old trailer slowly, closing it behind him with a bit of force. Pulling off his hardhat and googles, he wiped his head, his hair was a dark brown, matching his thick beard, however, he clearly was balding, his short hair made it more so prominent.

Sometimes the trailer felt to quiet, but It'd been a few good years since he had anyone but himself here. It was a bit of a restless night, lots of useless tossing and turning, he couldn't figure out why his thoughts were racing, was it worry?

The morning came with a caw from his prize rooster, slipping into his work clothes, pulling down the collar of his turtle neck and tugging on his glove, hiding the metal framework that was his right hand.

Breakfast of eggs and bacon, the usual meal, before hopping into his pickup truck, backing out of the driveway and heading down the old gravel road.

Pyro had woken with a start, a loud gasp under the mask as she fell out of the bed, feeling the concrete floor on her back as she rolled over, her quickly standing up and looking around, where was she? The last thing she remembered was watching the beard guy draw on the weird blue paper, and now she was asleep in the bed in the corner… better not to think about it, eh?

For her, getting ready was easy, zip the suit down, air it out for a few moments, then zip it back up, simple. Her whole body ached from sleeping on the bed that was basically a metal frame, it was an improvement from her previous abode, she rarely slept, too much screaming.

She remained in the office till she heard the door open, sitting on her legs on the bed, her looking through the papers, she didn't have a lighter or anything, or else she would have had to make something pretty! She knew he'd love it.

As the door squeaked, she jumped, her looking at the engineer walk in, holding his large bag in hand, tossing it onto the floor, his expression read partially surprised, but the googles he wore hid most of his face, him smiling widely

"Glad ta' see ya didn't burn down mah' workshop, Firebug." he said, his voice had a thick southern accent, filled with sugar and honey. She nodded, her hopping up, and slipping under his arm to go god knows were.

He paused as she ran off, scratching his neck, he sighed and shrugged, they didn't have another round for a few hours anyway, he had some research to do.

The next few days was a similar routine, he came in every morning to the pyro, she seemed almost like a puppy, he even developed a habit of calling her dalmatian.

Even on the field, she was by his side, giving that blonde two timin' backstabin' blu son of a bitch a run for his money around his equipment. Even the team's secondary sniper, a woman with hair awfully too long and a waist thinner then his wrist commented on the pyromaniac's attachment to him.

It wasn't that big of an issue, until she tried to follow him home, it was a good thirty minutes of him picking her out of the truck and putting her own in the workshop, he couldn't help but feel bad, as far as he knew, she hadn't eaten in days, hadn't showered, or even changed out of the thick fireproof suit, the workshop did lock after 10 pm. Sure enough, he was driving home with her sitting in the seat next to him.

He had an extra room, it was his daughters, when she stayed, which was once every few years, at least it felt like that.

A rough divorce in the worst time in his life left him without any rights to his now 10 year old daughter, he didn't like thinking about it to much, he could still send money to her each month, just to make sure she was fed and happy.

This pyro almost felt like her, as happy and sweet as she was, in a bit of a different way, though.

The trailer felt alive again, her running around and investigating everything, even holding his kindest hen, giving the critter a gentle pet on the head, before letting the bird run off to the rest of the flock.

He didn't remember where she disappeared off to as he cleaned out the room, flipping the sheets and taking off any dust, the bed was just big enough for a woman her size, had she been taller, her feet would stick off the end.

He went to walk out, spinning around, before coming to a stop, she was standing in the doorway, her head tilted, it was.. creepy, then again, most of this girl's movement's were.. creepy. He smiled, his brow furrowing.

"w-well Pyrah' This is where ya can stay, ah' recommend takin tha' damn suit off, can't be good fo' ya to be wearin that all da time." he said, patting her shoulder.

He didn't believe his ears when he heard her.

"thak yove" she said under the mask, he never heard her speak, sure, it was muffled, but clear enough.

He paused, breaking into a bit of a grin "..ya' welcome, if ya need something, just knock." he said, walking awkwardly around her, before going to his bedroom door, pausing with his gloved hand around the knob, turning back, she had disappeared, the door closed.

He sighed, rubbing his face as he tugged off his usual equipment. She looked around the room.. it was a mess, but a clean mess. He let out a sigh. walking to his usual size of the bed, tugging off his shirt and pants, leaving himself in a old pair of boxers. rolling into bed.

The next morning he woke up with something he just.. didn't expect.

A small meal was sitting on the counter, the pyro sitting on the couch, her legs curled underneath herself as she seemed to be waiting.. for him? He chuckled, wiping his face with his hand, going to itch his thick beard "Thank ya dalmation." he said, taking the plate, the food was alittle overcooked.. but heck, it was the pyro after all.

The meal ended quickly, he assumed she had eaten because of the plate in the sink.

The drive to the base was a bit quiet, him leaning back in his seat, glancing at her every so often, in all honesty, she seemed asleep.

"..So, Pyrah, ah' spoke to miss paulin' and she should be gettin ya a bed.." he paused, his jaw tightening, he'd honestly miss her if she left.

"…You can' stay with me, though." he sighed "Ya been a real joy, es' lonely ou' here sometimes."

"ya make it less lonely, ya' kno." he paused, him shifting in his seat "i-its.."

He shook his head, looking to her, she let out a snore, he didn't know it was fake, she wanted to hear him speak, but.. Something told her if she was awake, he wouldn't.

He paused, gripping the steering wheel "…I like ya' a lot, ya a really good friend, an' partner.." he paused, blushing "i-in work, like on the field' an such things.. ya kno?" he said, him shaking his head "n-not like.."

He knew I'd be best to shut up.

They reached the base thrity mintues later, her still playing asleep as he babbled on about anything that crossed his mind, he even told her a recipe for grilled ribs, which did sound quite appetizing.

"She let out a fake yawn, stretching her arms and fixing her mask as they came to a stop, her quickly opening the door and hopping out, without saying a word or anything. He watched her with interested, sighing and turning off the car and leaving himself.

"entering the base, it was rather quiet, as usual, making his way down the halls, eventually going past the medical bay, standing in the doorway, was a short woman, her long grey and black hair tied up in a crude bun, large, thick red rimmed glasses on her nose, a medic patch on her labcoat signified her role, he stopped, pausing for a moment as he held his still organic hand up.

"Medic, 'ave ya got today's plans?"

The woman paused, her flicking her wrist over to look at the small watch she had on, her letting out a sigh.

"not vor a vhile, James." she said, her flicking over her papers.

"Heavy has records." she muttered, her not looking at him as she grabbed the opaque glass door, slamming it in his face. He let out a groan, his hand going to slip underneath his orange hardhat, Finding heavy was nearly impossible, the woman was as stealthy as a spy, besides being almost 7 feet tall.

He trekked down to his workshop, sitting in the chair, which seemed to squeak under the weight, his hands resting gently on the desk as he flexed both of his fingers. It was a good hour of mucking around in his workshop before he heard a knock at the door, standing in the doorway was heavy.

The woman towered over almost everyone, standing like a brick wall, a long roman nose, thin lips and long red hair, tied up and hidden behind a red bandanna, the woman walked in, her boots seemed to make the ground shake, it was more likely just his imagination.

"Medic said to give you papers." The woman spoke, her voice was sharp and strong, her resting a giant hand on his desk, leaving behind papers that detailed out a few schematics, one for the medigun, and the other seemed to be for a.. flamethrower? He happened to be a bit excited, he knew this... Backburner was for the pyro, after all she was the only one who could use it.

The most interesting part of the machine was the decorative head, clearly made to mock a dragon, completed by horns and a.. wait what? he blinked, leaning closer as his finger traced over the words.. antlers and a nose, ok, that made perfect sense. He couldn't complain, he used some pretty out there equipment himself.

The weapon wouldn't be finished in time for the wars today, but he could get measurements and cut the metal now.

He went to the back of the base, picking up some scraps, bringing it back to the base, going to set them up to be cut. He pause as he heard a noise, turning around, he was face to face with the pyro, him pausing as she stepped forward, going to give him a soft hug, before quickly running off.

"What? He shook his head, wiping his hand on his cheek as he turned back to the metal cutter, it seems she knew the weapon was hers? maybe? who knows.

The drive back home was awkward and sweaty, the desert seems a good forty degrees hotter then what was typical, he couldn't tell if it was that, or just the lack of wind.

He could her her straining to breathe in the suit, and he could honestly understand it, after all she was completely covered in thick rubber.

He paused, biting at his tongue before he spoke "Ah.. Doll, ya kno' you can take off tha' suit." he said quietly, not taking his eyes off the road

"Ah' kno it's hot." he grumbled, his eyes drifting over to her, her laying back on the seat, her chest rising and lowering, it was clear she was exausted, or asleep. He let out a long, drawn out sigh, turning back to driving.

They reached the trailer, he felt himself drenched in sweat, and he prayed that she didn't have heatstroke. His worry increased when she didn't move a muscle as he got out. Him basically running around the car, opening his door, his hand going to her forehead, she wasn't moving, but she was still breathing, and she felt like she was on fire.

He normally wouldn't intrude on privacy.. but she could.. die. He reached his fingers back, grasping the rubber suit's clips, undoing them, he tugged the neck over her chin, seeming almost surprised as he found tan, dark skin.

She couldn't see, but she could breathe, her lips were dried and chapped, a large open wound down the center of her lip, he sighed, his hand resting on the back of the head, as if he was holding a child "…ya didn't say nothin.." he mumbled, his fingers slipped under her knees, he carried her inside, placing a fan on her, she seemed to be fast asleep, her even starting to unconsciously drool onto the couch.

"Now i'mma respect a' lady's privacy.. pyrah.. I'm gonna just make sure ya' breathe, now ya hear?" he mumbled her her, him sighing as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

She was out, she hasn't eaten but once at the beginning of the day, and he sure knows she hasn't drank anything.

He let out a sigh as he stood up, brushing his hands together, feeling the glove squish under his fingers as he walked into the kitchen, pouring a glass of water with a heaping amount of ice, and a plate of some cut Swiss cheese and pieces of ham.

Placing them on the small coffee table in front of her, he sighed, patting her shoulder "ah' I'm gonna live these 'er, OK ?" he murmured. Her groaning and reaching her gloved hand up to cover her mouth, she was rather beautiful, even if he only saw a tiny bit of her face.

The couch was comfortable until she fell off, yelping as she shot to sit upright, her mask tumbling off her head. Her face was tanned, covered in a large helping of freckles, scars, and scratches, droopy eyes framed with thick lashes, her hair was shaved, only a small tuff of her hair curling over her forehead.

She looked around for a moment, not used to anything but the haze of her googles. She looked down, seeing her mask, her reaching forward, going to slip it over her head, but pausing the moment she saw the now melted glass of water, and food.

She enjoyed the meal, considering she was basically starving, after cleaning the plate and putting her mask back on, she went to go lay down, how did her mask even get pulled up in the first place…

Pyro let out a sigh as she fell back onto the bed, her reaching down to unzip her suit, her clothes were filthy, and smelled worse then she thought they could, but she didn't want to change, this was the only pair of pants and shirt she owned.

Her body had freckles that matched her face, the most interesting was a large, unsightly scar on her right arm and thigh, the skin had been torn away and seemingly grafted on, it was clearly well.. a burn.

She let out a sigh under her mask, her fingers tracing over the bumpy scar, her slowly laying herself back on the bed, she didn't sleep all to well that night.


	2. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we meet a few new teamates, and it seems somthing is off with our little pyro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another chapter, the chapters will be a bit short!

The next morning, her whole body felt on fire.. She realized she spent a bit too much time in her hot suit, her skin is crawling and puffy, her burns itched, but this feeling wasn’t new.. a shower usually cured it.

A shower, the words made her shiver, she hated being exposed, out of her suit especially, even more so, she wasn’t the only person in the house.

She trusted Engineer, he hadn’t done anything to cross her.. but, not like this.

She knew she had too, her skin screamed and her body ached. A glance out of her room reveals the engineer was still fast asleep, the sun hadn’t risen yet, so it seems neither did he.

She let out a long sigh, she’d apologize later, it’s not kind to use people’s things without asking them, at least that’s what she was taught.

It was a tiny bit of sneaking, and she had ran herself to the bathroom, quite literally two steps from her bedroom, stripping out her sweat soaked clothes, and taking a bit to fiddle with the ever-so complicated shower knobs, she felt a lot cleaner then before, her skin stopped itching and crawling, still in some places it looked rather sore and red.

It took her by surprise when she saw herself in the mirror, she looked strikingly different, her hair, which she remembered shaved gone, was slowly forming back into wide ringlets, her skin was dirtier, whether it was more freckles, or scars.

Pyro could feel something about herself was.. different, it wasn’t her body, but her mind, it was clearer.. how, she couldn’t remember.

It took a good hour of her desperately trying to rub out blood and sweat from her clothes, eventually they were damp, but dry enough to wear without soaking her body, so it would do. The only real embarrassing part was the fact her breasts were visible through the damp white t-shirt. She shook it off, her walking out of the room, closing her door behind her.

Some time passed before she heard Engineer’s door open, her still wiping out the insides of her suit as she heard a knock at her door, she jumped and spun her head at the noise.

“Ah.. Dalmatian’, I’m gonna be making somethin’ to eat, if ya’ hungry, It’ll be there.” he said, making his way away from the door.

She let out a long sigh, her wiping her brow as she reached back into the suit, once the thick rubber was clean enough, she happily crawled back into it, zipping the suit over her frame and hiding her face under the mask.

“Engineer” never understood why she was so secretive, after seeing her well.. lips, she clearly wasn’t some sort of mutant, or a experiment, or a skeleton, or anything she needed to hide, but he couldn’t bring it up. He watched her as she took the plate of eggs and slightly singed toast back to the room, him shrugging off her secretive manor. 

He let out a sigh as she walked out, holding a completely empty plate, him reaching out a hand to take it from her, but her slipping underneath and grabbing his plate instead.

He let out a chuckle as she cleaned them off, him stepping around to face her. He bit his lip, trying to hold his tongue as she took a towel to the plate. 

“… Pyrah.. I have ta’ ask, why d ya.. I..” He felt himself get tongue tied, him shaking his head as she didn’t seem to notice. He let out a long sigh, looking down at his gloved hand, stretching the fingers awkwardly. She placed the dishes on the rack, turning her head back to him, her tilting her head and walking closer, he seemed to be a statue as she rested her mask against his chest. He wasn’t a tall guy, by most people’s standards, he was only taller then the team’s other engineer and medic, both of who, were extremely petite women.

And now he was a few inches taller then pyro, the woman let out a sigh against him, it took a awkward moment as he patted his ungloved hand against her back, her mumbling something in the mask, he couldn’t understand though.

it was the most awkward, drawn out hug in his life, but in all honesty, he felt sad once she let go. Her quickly running off and going out the door, likely to the car.

The drive down to the base was interesting, she seemed more alive, and happier, her head poked out the side of the car like a puppy, her hands gripping the half open window. 

He having to keep an eye out on her so she didn’t fall out, he laughed at the few times he grabbed her belt and tugged her back into the seat, but now they were at the base, and today was well, busy.

Mostly on her flamethrower, it was easier, she seemed intent on helping him finish, at a request of an item, or to fetch something, she ran off and was back faster then he ever would be. The hardest part was attaching the tank, not because if was difficult, but it was heavy. It took him and her to hold it in place as he pulled the straps around the tank. Once it was together he slipped away, her first reaction to roll underneath the flamethrower, holding up the tank with her back.

He had to silently wonder how she could hold it up, but she didn’t seem to have a problem as he melted the plates into place. 

The weapon was mostly done, only thing left was to paint the head, and make sure it worked. It took a moment to lower it, him resting it so she could pick it up, and too his surprise, she was easily able too, her gripping the nozzle, holding it in hand as she rested her other hand on the base, gripping it and jumping slightly. No problems, at least not yet. 

He was lucky friendly fire wasn’t a thing, or after testing the flamethrower, both of them would be on fire, first try it went fine, but the second she lifted it into the air, a clog came out, and the air around them bursted into flames for a moment, she was giggling up a storm, he was on the floor completely stunned.

The machine worked wonderfully, sturdy, and most of all it didn’t cause another fireball. Taking it inside, she seemed more then happy to paint the machine, giving it large googly eyes and a crude black smile, her happily clapping at her handy work.

The bells ran quickly as the rounds began, and he could say to himself, she seemed like a changed pyro, he wasn’t sure it it was the weapon, or confidence, but she easily took down anything that came in their path, even air-blasting the occasional huntsman arrow.

He did notice a habit of her quite literally sitting on his dispenser, which made sense, the backburner did eat quite a bit of ammo. The briefcase never left the intel room, after the teams scout brought back the last round, staggering and with his chest puffed out, the round ended after a measly ten minutes. 

It left three hours of sitting around the base, and to his surprise, once he reached his workshop, pyro was missing. It didn’t bother him too much, but it was lonely, he gotten quickly used to the small pyromaniac stuck to him with whatever he did. 

Eventually he couldn’t stand the silence, and he easily found her. 

The women on the team had a tendency to stick together, and it seemed she wasn’t far from that same stereotype. She was sitting on the Medic’s table, the petite German sat next to the Heavy, along with the team’s other engineer.

The two engineers never really got along, she was more deep south then he was, her hair teased to high heaven bleached bright blonde, thick red lipstick and always chewing on gum. She mothered everyone, she even mothered the team’s guard dog, often bringing scraps of meat to the chained creature.

It wasn’t too bad till the woman started to yell at him for weird things, including trying to fix is slightly crooked hat, it reminded him too much of his own mother, and the two of them never got along. The second she saw him in the doorway, she let out a high pitch squeal, her getting up and holding her arms out.

“There’s tha’ techie! we were just talkin’ bout ya!” She said, her continuing to chew her gum loudly, gesturing for him to come in, Medic seemed to sink in her chair, her body visibly pulling together. at the same time the redheaded heavy rolled her eyes, her large arms crossed over her chest.

The conversation was long and awkward, mostly about things with technology, which he was happy to talk about, but medic seemed uninterested, and the heavy seemed to not be paying attention, it didn’t stop the engineering pair from chatting, however.

Sofia hadn’t moved a muscle in an hour.. it just couldn’t be natural, she could have been asleep, or something along those lines. He continued to watch her, before jumping at feeling a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“James, she is fine, Why you stare.” said a thick accent, it was heavy, the woman’s voice was as intimidating as ever. Before this point, he would have never said that a woman’s voice could be so, but she was.

“… Somthin’ ain’t right, it’s not like her to be so still.” he said, The heavy paused “She is sleeping, she will be fine.” the woman responded, slowly rising out of her chair, walking out of the room, leaving the pair of women and him.

“… Ah’ kno wha-” 

“Do not tell him!” medic yelled, her grabbing the southern woman’s shoulder, the female engineer rolling her eyes.

“James” glanced between the pair, then over at Pyro, him slowly rising as he walked over, she was clearly asleep, somehow still sitting up, but her neck was back enough she could relax. 

The medic quickly rose, her walking over, her mary janes clacking against the linoleum. Engineer never trusted the medic, she kept most things a secret, she was a medic, medics could never be trusted.


	3. Sofia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some.. well, screaming and lots of screaming this chapter.

“Don’t.” he said, looking over at the woman, his voice was firm, her frowning and crossing her arms.

“Don’t?” she asked curiously.

He didn’t look at her, the medic watched him.

“Your possessive over the pyro, aren’t you?” she paused, her pushing up her glasses with a finger.

“Possessive?” he asked, him turning his head, it wasn’t possessive.. he was worried.. right?

“She follows you around like a puppy, you take her home each day, And she brightens up the second you walk into a room.” she paused “You’ve taken quite a liking to her.” she said with a sneer, the medic wasn’t much for love, or attention. At least on the outside, most of the whole team knew about some form of a..relationship with the team’s scout and her, after all he seems to wear it with pride.

“and?” he asked, his jaw tightening, the medic went to respond, before James felt the pyro’s head against his chest, feeling her move gently.. she… He looked down, his hand resting on her masked head, him staring down the smug woman, him frowning and scooping the pyro up into his arms.

The drive home had him worried, he didn’t want to accept it , he didn’t realize anyone noticed their closeness, it wasn’t against the rules, but it wasn’t exactly allowed ether.

It didn’t matter now, his worry was boiling into fear on the way home, again, she wasn’t moving. The medic seemed to have no worry, but he sure as hell did.

It took a few moments for him to come to a park, his hands reaching over, resting his fingers against her throat, feeling her breathe and her heart beat.

She was fine.. just.. asleep, again.

He shook his head, stepping out of the car, the day wasn’t all to hot, it wasn’t cool ether.

Eventually he placed in on the couch inside, and she did something he never expected.

She kicked out at him with force, just missing his body, her hands clawing at her mask as she seemed to thrash, her screaming through her mask and yelling, His response was at first to move away, before grabbing her arms, easily pinning them to her chest, his heart sunk as she screamed.

“Don’t hurt me! Please!” she screamed under the mask, her voice was clear, and very loud.

“I’m not going to hurt you! It’s ok!” He responded back, his voice slightly raised, but still kind and deep. 

It took a few moments for her to stop shaking, eventually she calmed down, her coughing rather violently.

“I.. cun.. b-bruth..” She murmured, her voice muffling as she calmed down. He paused.

“..You need to take off your mask.” He responded quickly, is hands moving away from her arms, her hands reached up as she struggled, her whole body twisted as the mask’s buttons popped with force, tugging off the mask with force and tossing it behind her, her lungs were too burned to care, her arms ached, but that voice.. she wasn’t afraid.

His face was stunned, she was, even in this state, beautiful. Small curls on her head, her eyes rimmed with more lashes then he’d ever seen on a woman, and more freckles then stars in the sky. He gripped her cheek as she coughed, her clawing at her throat, tears filling her eyes as she continued to breathe.

“I-it hurts..” she mumbled, her voice was oddly hoarse and deep, even for a woman. He didn’t focus on her face or voice, him trying to get her to calm down. 

it took a few minutes, her finally sitting up and coughing up the morning’s meal until she calmed down. He spent most of the time taking whatever she needed, eventually once she came back to herself, she quickly covered her face with her hands, almost curling up in a ball.

“m-my face.. y-you can’t.. my face..” she mumbled, him sighing.

“It’s ok.. Pyro, Don’t worry, your face is beautiful.” He said, him biting his lip on the last word. She paused, looking over at him.

“..Beautiful?” She asked, her eyes seemed oddly hazey, and very clearly bloodshot.

He paused, him leaning down “well… yes.” he mumbled, his head poking up as he sighed, resting his real hand on her head, sighing as he brushed his hand through her curls. She blushed, her leaning her head forward. 

“…They were so scary.. they hurt me..” she mumbled, her sighing “…they put a needle in my arm.. it went black..” she mumbled, her whimpering and grabbing at her left shoulder.

He blinked “..who…?” he asked curiously, her grabbing her face.

“..the people with no eyes..” she mumbled.

He rested back.. no eyes? what..

She seemed exhausted, he knew he shouldn’t question further.

He laid the woman down to bed, her seeming almost like a child, curling up in her suit and falling asleep.

His sleep didn’t come so easy, it left his mind racing, and once he did sleep, his dreams were filled with her, in less than appropriate situations, in the morning he felt extremely guilty, he didn’t have control over it. He didn’t even know what she looked like under the suit, only her face.

He walked out to a surprise, she was standing there, her mask still missing, and her suit laid out the corner, wearing only shorts and her filthy t-shirt.. she.. she was there, and he was baffled.

She wasn’t petite, not at all, her bust made her head look small, her hips matched and her stomach had a layer of fat, a small roll at the bend of her back. She let out a yelp as she noticed him, him stepping forward as she stepped back. He swallowed, holding his hands in the air.

“it’s ok, Pyro..” he paused as she did, her eyes welded up in tears, before her dropping onto her knees and bursting out crying.

He tried to calm her without touching her, holding out his hands and asking her to breathe, but it failed.

He thought of letting her cry it out, he didn’t know how to tell, but that stopped the second she grabbed him, tackling him roughly and pushing her head into his shoulder, hiding her face. 

He couldn’t stop himself, gripping her waist and hugging her closely, he let her cry, and he would as long as she needed too, which ended after a few minutes. she rested on him, her whole body shaking.

“…I trust you.” she mumbled, her accent, surprisingly, was southern, just like him, not as thick, but clearly she was from the area.

He held his breathe as she spoke.

“..You care, no one ever cares.” she mumbled, her sighing as she looked up at him, her eyes were even redder then before.

He smiled widely, his dark blue eyes looking down at her.

“Of course I care.” he mumbled, him going to help her slowly stand up, her legs shook as he went to help her walk to the couch.

“Now.. Pyro, I’ll go call Miss Pauling, you need to rest.” he said, she looked up at him, her biting her lip.

“…Sofia.” she mumbled, her looking down at her knees.

“My name is Sofia.” 

He stood still, his body turned away, him looking back at her “..well.. Sofia.. I.. that’s a beautiful name.” he paused “You know..?”

She nodded “Yes, James.”

His face hurt from how long he was smiling, even Miss. Pauling could hear it in his voice.

The pair was now sitting awkwardly, he had removed most of his gear, only sitting in his turtleneck, and overalls, the part around his chest pulled off and resting around his waist. She was beautiful, maybe even the prettiest woman he’d ever seen, and she was… young, maybe even a teenager, she lacked any wrinkles in her face, still holding baby fat in her neck.

He watched her with amazement, her curled up a seat away from him, it took him a moment to notice a well.. smell, glancing down, he noticed the shirt, which in some patches was white, in the others, it was grey, brown, and yellow, and clearly very dirty. He paused, leaning back as he stood up “..Ya need to get outta that, let me.. let me go get ya some fresh clothes, ya shower, ya hear?” he said, him looking back at Sofia, the girl nodded.

“..ok..” she mumbled, her standing up as she quickly ran into the bathroom, her tiny feet batting on the floor as she hid in the bathroom. 

He picked out a rather old t-shirt, a beer logo long forgotten and worn away. 

he realized one thing, how the heck would he get.. the shirt to her. 

Eventually he decided a knock on the door and placing it on the small counter next to the door, in arm’s reach would work.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, she came out, wearing just that t-shirt and he assumed her underwear. She slowly gripped at the shirt, looking down. It seemed a lot shorter on her then it did him, the shirt was an extra large, but he usually could wear a medium and it still be baggy. He could assume her bust was what made it so short, but he wasn’t going to mention it, she is a lady.

“I didn’t know If i could trust you.” she mumbled under her breathe.

“..But I know I do now..”

He smiled again, his face was starting to hurt, he nodded softly “I’m.. I’m glad.. py- Sofia.” he said, having to correct himself.


	4. Generator

He could tell her whole body was shaking.

Part of him hoped it was just the too high air conditioner. Not that she was, dare he say, afraid of him. He didn’t think to long on the later, she had said herself, she trusted him.

The pair was now sitting awkwardly on the couch, since surrounding herself in old itchy blankets, him watching the static TV, he couldn’t tell what was going on, the damn thing never had good reception. She seemed mostly fine, her wrapped up looked almost comical, her large cheeks pushed up so her big blue eyes were slightly pushed up, her puffy lips open slightly.

she was a beautiful girl.. woman? He didn’t really know, he assumed girl, but hoped the latter. He wasn’t much of a spring chicken himself, if he worked at a normal job, retirement would be in a good 15 years, spending his “golden” years curled up on a rocking chair threatening teenagers with his shotgun for walking on his grass.

He wasn’t exactly.. old, and she definitely wasn’t, heck if he hadn’t seen her body. She looked not a day older then 13.

This whole ordeal was rather startling, much less in the fact that she was awkwardly sniffling, reaching a blanket covered hand up every once and awhile.

James stood up, walking slowly over to the kitchen, he could feel the eyes in the back of his head, but said nothing. He put together a small sandwich for himself, the fridge was a little bare, he wasn’t used to feeding two people, atleast two adults. It was a trek to tuefort, but his food was a heck of alot better than the rations they had at the base.

Sometimes he wondered if any of that was even edible, last time he ate at the base he sweared the stew moved.

But that was a story for another day. He placed a hand on the bread, squishing it down as she heard some shuffling, him turning his head up, sure enough, she had moved where he was sitting, her tiny face disappearing under a mass of all the blankets in the house. He held in a chuckle, going to sit down next to her, plate in hand. She seemed rather snuggly in the pile, he knew it wasn’t best to disturb her.

“ah.. Sofia.. uhm, I can call you sofia, right?” he asked, glancing over at the pyro.

She wiggled, her poking her head out of the blankets, glancing over at him “... Sofia, or Pyro.” she mumbled, her looking down at his food.

He chuckled softly, her looking up at him, before slowly stuffing her face back into the blankets.

It took only a tug to pull the sandwich in half, him holding out the slightly smaller torn piece up to her, not looking at he slowly ate his own.

He felt her grab the meal, her fingers were rather rough and worn, but he didn’t think too much about it.

The meal ended awkwardly with a phone call. He slowly stood upl, going to the wall mounted phone, picking it up and sighing

“What?”

“Engineer, I need you to come to the base. /now/.”

The voice over the line was a thick french, he knew exactly who it was, he let out a long sigh, going to respond, before hearing the dial tone on the other line. He hung up, rubbing in between his eyes, turning over to see the tiny pyro still piled up in the blankets.

“I can trust you to not burn down the trailer while I’m gone.”

“Yup.” she responded, her poking her head out at him, before snuggling back into the blankets.

The drive was long, he called off, he got the ok for the day, heck, he only had 5 vacation days a year, and this was one of them. But.. It’s not often that damn. spy, calls, and if it is, its an emergency.

Reaching the base, his blood ran a bit cold once he saw the large smokestack behind it, the battles barely went bad enough that... this... happens.

A slam of the car door, and him running into the base is greeted with quite a bit of blood splatter. Standing in the doorway was the.. spy.

Spy was.. tall, broad shoulders, thin legs and two almost unnatural scars dashed down in his mouth, his eyes and nose hidden under a thick hide hood.

“We lost.”

“And wha’ did ya call meh? Don’t ya have tha’ other engineers?”

The spy paused, plucking the cigarette from his disguise kit, and sticking it into his mouth, not lighting it just yet.

“the generator exploded, Redmond requires everyone on premise for rebuilding.” he said, pulling out his lighter, a single flick and a small bit of smoke came from his cigarette.

“why did ya just call me then?” James pondered, clearly he was confused, if it required everyone, should have he asked for So-.. pyro, too.

“I was expecting you to bring your.. dog, along.” The spy murmured with a scoff, earning a blank stare from the engineer.

“I was also expecting that you’d be... Dressed. “ the spy muttered, pointing down to the engineer, his sweater and overalls hanging around his waist. James looked down, quickly tugging the loose overalls around his shoulders, going to buckle them as quickly as he could.

“w-well I wasn’t expectin a call, I saved ma’ days off for the past four years, ya kno.” he said.

“Of course, now, go get your mutt before i report both of you late.”

With a puff of smoke the spy was gone.

It was an hour drive back to the trailer, finding the pyro had since well.. put on his shorts.. well, she called them shorts, they were actually his boxers, but he heck, couldn’t tell her.

He had managed to stuff both of their equipment into the back of the truck, and driving back to the base.

He found all the team, including the other floors of the base, hidden to them usually.

Sofia had donned her mask before they reached the base, her suit was still in the back, but she could easily run and slip into it.

He let out a long sigh as the car came to a stop, reaching down into his pocket, tugging on his googles.

She hopped out, stumbling into the large wooden trunk, her slipping her body into the suit, disappearing underneath the rubber.

The pair was greeted with the whole team, most out of their usual getup, ether in t-shirts and shorts, or a few of the men were shirtless, all except for.. Spy.

Sometimes Engineer wonders if that man is even human. Well, he knows he is.

The man is married to the team’s female heavy of all people, rumor has it, his kid is the blu scout. That girl is fast, but reckless, he’d admit seeing her behind his sentry more times then he could count.

He couldn’t imagine fighting his own daughter, she had a love for anything athletic, from basketball to horseback riding.

He snapped out of his own trance once he heard the call of his.. interesting title.

“Eh, Trekie, can ya fix the generator.”

Engineer let out a groan “I though’ that It wasn’t mah’ job to fix the base.” he grumbled, walking into the group.

The voice came from the team’s “secondary” sniper, a man with a thick five a-clock shadow, hair looked slicked forward, but it was probably just dirty, and covered in thick black tiger-like tattoos.

Most of the teams could have several one one class, but per “the rules” only one could be active at a time. He himself wasn’t good with any smaller sentries, but the other engineer sure was.

The day was spent with him knelt over a generator, Sofia helping him by sitting and watching, handing him the occasional tool. He knew that a repair service wouldn’t be here for another day, knowing Solly, he’d probably blow up the truck before it came.

He couldn’t get the damn thing working, the whole machine was filled with sticky tar, broken parts. He didn’t even know how it was running. It seems this could take another day.. or two.


End file.
